Great website with words to French songs, activities etc!

This website is full of great ideas for the new school year!  You can print an alphabet poster, weekly calendar, book name tags etc, all in French.  Website is full of great French song (words are provided).  For a full list of activities for the new school year, click here.  For a list of songs, specifically "rondes", click here.

Check out Momes's blog too here!

Interesting NYTimes article about raising bilingual children

Looking for Baby Sitters: Foreign Language a Must - "[...] bilingual children do better at complex tasks like isolating information presented in confusing ways.  [...] Bilingual children are faster at identifying what color the word is written in, a fact researchers attribute to a more developed prefrontal cortex (the part of the brain responsible for executive decision-making, like which language to use with certain people)".  Interesting article (click here).  I am not sure I would agree with all of the article, especially when it comes to "bilingualism tended to suppress verbal and reading comprehension test scores".  I think we are giving our children a gift to be able to learn more than one language at such an early age.  Not only are we forming their ears to different language sounds but also opening their environment to other cultures, which will have lifelong benefits!  And I guess if learning more than one language helps them with nonlinguistic abilities like science and math, I guess it's a plus!  

Tumblebooks - eBooks in French for kids!

Tumblebooks is an online library of animated, talking picture books which teach kids the joy of reading.  Tumblebooks are created by taking existing picture books, adding animation, sound, music and narration to produce an electronic picture book which you can read, or have read to you.  Interactive puzzles and games, audiobooks, as well as titles in Spanish, French and other languages are available online.  Click here to view book titles in French.

"Learning French In and Around the Garden" series from BabyBilingual Blog

Please check these great hands-on activities you can do to help your kids learn French posted by the author of Baby Bilingual Blog.  The author has put together a series of activities.
Part I: Music, rhythm, and rhyme
Part II: Art and drama activities
Part III: Literacy activities
Part IV: Kinesthetic Activities

This is a great kid magazine for ages 1 to 3 years old.  I personally think it is best for children 2 to 4 years old who are learning French at home. Each issue, conceived around a central theme, reflects toddlers emotions and accompanies their explorations of the world around them.  The magazine tells stories of everyday life using funny cartoons, stories, games etc.  A little "Petit Ours Brun" booklet comes with it.  You can order the magazine online on either POPI website, UNI-Presse or Amazon.com.  If you know of other great places to order the magazine, please comment below.  The POPI website currently has a special if you subscribe for a year.  

Love this book collection: Belles Histoires des tout-petits

My son loves this collection!  Great for ages 2 & up.  Highly recommend all of these.  My son's favorite is "Qui veut un bisou?" and "En Avant, Petit Train!".  Many of these can be purchased on FrenchBooksOnline, Amazon and FNAC.com.

French Language Activities

Great preschool and kindergarden fun kid activities in French at Enchanted Learning.  They have coloring book activities, dictionaries and crafts along with materials on animals, clothes, season/weather, shapes, vehicles, numbers, musical instruments and much more.  Great resource for teachers and parents teaching children French!